Reading Time: 6 Minutes Hey guys! It’s finally here – FIRE has gone mainstream! How mainstream you say? Well, business insider covered an article on it (here) which starts off with: “The Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE) movement, strong among millennials in the US, has reached Australia. The goal of an early retirement is becoming popular among young people who don’t like what they see in the future, with healthcare and state-funded pensions crumbling, and aren’t that keen on the idea of a career for life”. That’s right, MILLENNIALS FTW MUTHACHUCKAS! We’re different from other generations in that the old, traditional race of working 40 hours a week for 40…
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Back at work I had a Light Bulb Moment, well Two Really…
Reading Time: 7 minutes Hey guys! How’s it all going? Brrrr it’s so very, very wet and cold here in Old Sydney Town, you’d be forgiven to think that winter is coming with the freezing rain and icy winds. Man, I wish I was back in China! Unfortunately I am back, but not in China you see – back at work. Sigh, that’s what happens to us 9to5er’s ain’t it, we’re only allowed 4 weeks a year to venture outside and see the world. Those precious 4 weeks of annual leave is what generates our… William Wallace voice on FREEEEEEEDOM!!! William Wallace voice off Suffice to say I’ve had many…
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Which Financial Level Are You?
Reading Time: 9 minutes Hey guys! How y’all doing? Hope you been enjoying the weekend – plenty of glorious sunshine out there! MrsFrugalSamurai certainly did, for she went out for a hike with friends to the famous Wedding Cake Rock whilst I ran around throwing my weight around on the field (as a referee). During one of our breaks, I sat down to have a chat with a couple of my fellow refs. Soon enough, the conversation gravitated towards our normal day jobs – one was a doctor, another a self-employed jeweler and the youngest of us, still a student. “You guys are all level 99’s!” said the student at the end…
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An Example of the Power of Compound Interest…
Reading Time: 4 minutes Hola! How’s it going ladies and gentlemen? Are we all enjoying our Wednesday night! I know, I know – there’s not too much to do on a Wednesday right. Seems like hump day is just a prelude to “getting it over with” and waiting for TGIF. But you know, there’s so much more to what can be achieved each passing day. Never underestimate the power of compound interest and incremental changes! Here, take this example I was discussing with my work colleagues today. Now, a bit of background – we work in financial services within a fairly large institution. One might even call it a “bank”,…
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7 Thoughts on How to Approach FIRE (Final Part)
*This is a longer post but well worth it in my humble opinion. Allow 8-10 minutes. 女士们, 先生们 你们好! Welcome back to another edition offfffff… “THE FRUGAL SAMURAI!” Cue drums, and music and elephants and dancers and other wild shit. I hope you all have been loving life the way it should be loved since we met last. What a difference a couple of days make eh – here in Australia, we’ve past an annual milestone date of 30th June – the New Year’s Eve for accountants. Yes that’s right – accountants around the nation were rejoicing and singing Auld Lang Syne under the mistletoe last night. But not you…
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7 Thoughts on How to Approach FIRE (Part 3)
“Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it’s off to work we…” Oh Greetings there! How are you? Welcome, welcome to my humble abode – where we discuss all things finance and how it relates to YOU. Points finger in your direction. Please, please step inside from the cold. Opens the front door to reveal a warm and welcoming fire burning in the sitting room. I know, it’s freezing outside isn’t it? But don’t worry – we’re in the worst of it now, it will be over soon. Hmmm, that reminds me on the topic in which we are discussing today, “7 Thoughts on How to Approach FIRE”. Now mind you, I’ve already…
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7 Thoughts on How to Approach FIRE (Part 2)
Welcome back guys! I’m a bit saddened this weekend. How come you ask? Well, MrsFrugalSamurai left yours truly yesterday. Nothing long-term (I hope), but she did travel to Europe on a work-trip. Poor her, all that culture and food and warm weather must be tough – hope she’ll be OK. But all good, she can have the warmth of the European sun, I’ve got the warmth of the legions of adoring fans. My friend Bugzy commented on the previous post on the “7 Thoughts to Approach FIRE” in his usual witty and happy-go-lucky manner (he’s a closet leprechaun). But you know, not all of us is blessed with the same green…
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7 Thoughts on How to Approach FIRE (Part 1)
What’s up boys and girls! Hope everyone’s having a great week! Freezing our fingers and toes off here in Old Sydney Town, never realized Winter could be so cold (it can, that’s why it is called “Winter”). Following on from my previous post where I asked for questions from yourselves, there’s been quite a few responses (that’s a few more than I expected)! For those of you who sent them through, thank you for doing so – I’m going through them now and there’s plenty of great questions and topics to cover. However there’s a question from Bugzy about FIRE which really struck a nerve. Bugzy asks: “Dear Frugal My…
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Caution to All Passive Index Investors – Beware the High Winds!
Hai guyz! What’s happening? How was your weekend! Enjoy the winter chill much? Yesterday was pretty insane, waking up at six in the morning so I could be chasing little kids around the park (I’m a soccer referee). The wind chill and gusts felt like playing in a gale on the Arctic Tundra. In fact, it was so bad at one stage that the pegs holding the goals down snapped off and the goals flipped over themselves (they were the fancy mobile goals). Immediately after that, I made the decision to call the game off. You should have heard the reactions from the parents when it happened. “WTF TheFrugalSamurai, don’t…
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Which 4 Main Paths Of Life Are You On – Consistent, Hard, Avant-Garde Or FIRE?
Oh wow Ladies and Gentlemen, What an epic drive that was. I knew Sydney traffic is bad but man oh man, is it ever so bad tonight. What is normally a 40 minute journey took an hour and 50 minutes. Mind you, I don’t mind the traffic – there’s always something to do in the car you see. Eating an early dinner, getting started on the night’s drinking, dirty sexting your partner, levelling up on Clash of Clans – so many things to occupy your time as you drive. Whilst I don’t mind partaking in the above, personally I prefer listening to podcasts and affirmations – it’s usually the only…
